Daniel Department Store

Daniel Department Store was opened at 120 Peascod Street in 1918; Charles Daniel, son of the founder gave it to his sister Mabel to run. Daniel Stores was founded by W.J. Daniel in 1901, originally trading as a small drapers’ shop in Ealing, where it still trades today. There are stores in Ealing, Chiswick, and Windsor. The Windsor store is the largest of the three and is currently Windsor’s only department store. It remains a privately-owned business and held The Queen’s Royal Warrant for supplying gifts.

Until recently it was a warren of tiny rooms, Bill Bryson describing it as ‘the most extraordinary place with low ceilings, tiny obscure departments selling the oddest assortment of items.’ He thought that it had emerged from several different buildings with differing floor levels. Daniel had expanded gradually in exactly that way as neighbouring properties came up for sale. After King Edward Court was built, it became the modern store it is today. You can walk through it from Peascod Street to King Edward Court on the other side. Upstairs there is a Lego soldier, dressed as a Coldstream guardsman, and Le Suquet is a tearoom on the first floor.